The Top 5 Travel Incentives Ideas & Destinations

For top performers, incentives for beating sales and performance goals is a major motivator to push their limits. As an employer, your part is offering something your top performers want to strive for.

Travel incentives are a great way to offer a desirable reward for work well done. But, there are much more interesting destinations than a typical Florida trip—offering incentives for off-the-beaten-path destinations will give them the experience of a lifetime!

We’ve compiled some great specific experiences in exciting destinations you can offer your top performers. Not only are they a prize for doing a great job—these are experiences they will remember for a lifetime.

1. California

No matter where you’re coming from, California is a great idea for employee travel incentives. It offers beautiful weather, truly iconic and world-class cities (ahem, San Francisco?) and the chance to take in one of the most diverse states in the union.

One of the best ways to experience California’s natural beauty is with a jaunt through Napa Valley. The sheer amount of vineyards—and for every wine drinker, Napa Valley is a veritable mecca—create breathtaking landscapes and an experience that will last a lifetime.

2. Toronto

With classic modernity within easy reach of boundless nature, Toronto is a popular destination for people looking for a not-so-foreign escape. With airline tickets still relatively affordable, you could potentially offer your top-performing employees an incredible experience at budget prices.

Toronto surprisingly has a robust beer culture, with dozens of breweries right within the city. For your employees who love a good craft brew, there are tons of walking tours that take you through the city’s deep beer infrastructure.

One of the best deals out there is offered by TourGuys, which brings you through Toronto’s old city area to try only locally-brewed beer. Can someone say “Cheers!”

3. New York City

That’s right. The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. For anybody that visits New York, the experience is one they’ll never forget. With an extremely wide range of options as far as lodging, entertainment, and otherwise, this might be your best bet for an impactful and inspiring travel incentive.

One experience that will truly create a lasting image in their mind is the Sea the City Jet Ski Tour. Unlike any other tour of New York, Sea the City gives your top performer a view of the skyline like no other. Along with being able to pilot a jet ski—in and of itself an exciting experience—Sea the City could be one of the most memorable parts of your incentive travel rewards or incentives program.

4. Austin

Austin is perhaps one of the most fun cities for the younger generation, and one of the ultimate travel insentive ideas. An active music scene, a bar and restaurant ecosystem that is the envy of the nation, and comfortably warm temperatures will make the Lone Star State’s capital city a highly-coveted prize.

As we said before, Austin has an incredibly deep food culture, full of Mexican and American favorites that any meat-lover will enjoy. That’s what makes it one of the best places offer as a travel incentive. One of the best ways to experience this is with the Austin Eats Food Tour. Exploring several parts of the Downtown and South Congress sections of the city, your top performer is sure to enjoy the wide range of options—and plentiful libations—that this food tour can offer.

5. Portland

That’s Portland, Oregon. For the past ten years, this paradise of youth and beer culture has been a sweet spot for anybody needing an eclectic, nature-rich getaway. Especially for millennials, Portland has been a top relocation destination for years.

There’s tons to do in Portland in terms of nature. One of the best deals out there is the Mt. Hood Day Trip, an all-day excursion into one of the most scenic mountain vistas in the country. Great for small groups, your top performer will dive into an eight-hour exploration of the Columbia River Valley from Portland to the town of Mt. Hood and back, just in time for a night on the town in one of the city’s many, many restaurants and bars.